Edge trimming composite airplane parts has traditionally been done manually with routers and fixtures adapted for the use of hand tools. The process is generally noisy, slow, labor intensive, tedious, and dirty. Part quality can vary substantially by router operator and many uncontrollable process variables.
In the past, edge trimming of airplane parts has not lent itself to easy automation. The number, size and diversity of parts has frustrated attempts at using available automated trim systems.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,181 to Jeppsson, also assigned to The Boeing Company, shows a system for automatically machining airplane parts. However, the system is geared to machining fairly small, flat parts from aluminum sheet. The size of parts that can be machined is limited to an area smaller than the surface area of the machining table. Similarly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,495, 4,866,630, and 4,178,820 relate to sheet cutting machines where the cutting tool or blade is mounted on a fixture above a limited area work surface and in which the path of the cutting tool can be programmed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,239 relates to a programmable robot which can be moved from location to location, particularly to machine boats. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,661 shows a gantry mounted robot above a fixed workpiece and 3,427,518 shows a digital control system for incrementally moving a workpiece to different workstations along a fixed track.
None of these patents alone, nor any combination thereof, suggests a manufacturing facility for the automated fabrication of sheet stock which may be large sized and or of complex contour.